Packers Morning Buzz: Stakes are high for Green Bay players over final weeks

Welcome to your game-day Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers from around the web and here at PackersNews.com.

While Packers president/CEO Mark Murphy and general manager Brian Gutekunst search for a successor to fired coach Mike McCarthy, interim coach Joe Philbin will lead Green Bay against the Atlanta Falcons at noon Sunday at Lambeau Field.

We'll start with Tom Silverstein's story on how half the Packers' roster could get an overhaul under a new coach, and what the stakes are for Packers players over the final weeks of this season.

Tom writes:

When a team is out of the playoffs (the Packers aren’t quite out but will be with another loss), the smart players understand they’re playing to impress the front office or some other team’s front office.

If someone is playing not to get hurt or acting as though the offseason has already begun, it will be out there for every general manager and talent evaluator around the NFL to see. If a Packers player has hope that he’ll have a space in the same locker room next season, he should heed a warning from veterans such as linebacker Antonio Morrison, who went through a coaching change in Indianapolis and found himself in a new defensive system this year

Eventually, the Colts didn’t think Morrison was a good fit and traded him to the Packers on Aug. 26.

“Man, you have to focus on yourself, you can’t focus on the things you can’t control,” Morrison said. “You have to just make sure you’re prepared to do whatever job is asked. Whatever staff, whatever scheme, just prepare your body to be able to do all of that, do whatever it is.

“Part of the business is you have to win. Guys are moving forward, the more they can understand it’s part of a business it will help them more.”

You can read the entire column here:

Who better than Silverstein and Jim Owczarski to wrap up a wild week in Green Bay and look ahead to Joe Philbin's first game as interim coach:

Silverstein offers his "5 Things to Watch" in Sunday's game and our reporters make their predictions:

Aaron Jones could get more carries under Philbin and that sounds good to the second-year running back:

McCarthy's former coordinators know what it's like to suddenly lose your job:

McCarthy thanks Packers fans and bids farewell in a full-page newspaper ad:

Mike Garafolo describes a "somber, sad" scene when McCarthy addressed the team three days after being fired:

A look at the Packers' slant pass route and why it's effective:

Albert Breer of The MMQB says Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is the name he's hearing most in connection with the Packers' opening, largely because of his experience in handling an elite quarterback in Tom Brady:

ESPN's Rob Demovsky writes that the Packers can be expected to play hard Sunday for Philbin:

At "Good Morning Football," they're still debating whether McCarthy should've been allowed to finish out the season:

Two of the NFL's top pass blockers will be on display Sunday at Lambeau Field:

Delay of game in the court case involving the Packers fan in Chicago who wasn't allowed to wear Packers gear on the field at a Bears game: